 The paper's January 9, 2008 front page |
|
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC |
| Publisher | Mark J. Frisby[1] |
| Editor | Michael Days |
| Founded | March 31, 1925 |
| Headquarters | 400 North Broad Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19101  United States |
| Circulation | 97,694[2] |
| Website | philly.com/dailynews |
The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that began publishing on March 31, 1925, under founding editor Lee Ellmaker. In its early years, it was dominated by crime stories, sports and sensationalism. By 1930, daily circulation of the morning paper exceeded 200,000. It is owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C.
Circulation dropped over the years, and by 1954, the money-losing paper was sold to Matthew McCloskey, a contractor and treasurer of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. In December 1956, the paper's financial condition was so bad that McCloskey got permission from the unions for a 90 percent cut in the workforce.
In 1957, McCloskey sold the paper to Walter Annenberg, publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Annenberg killed off the Daily News' Sunday edition and made the tabloid into an afternoon paper.
In 1969, Annenberg sold both papers to Knight Newspapers Inc., which eventually became Knight Ridder following a merger.
Under the new ownership, the Daily News returned to morning publication and aimed to be taken more seriously. The paper's journalists have won the Pulitzer Prize twice since then. Richard Aregood won in 1985 for editorial writing and Signe Wilkinson won for her editorial cartoons in 1992.
The paper continues to struggle financially (It was surpassed in circulation, but not readership, by the free daily Metro). When the sale of Knight Ridder to The McClatchy Company was announced in March 2006, there were rumors that McClatchy would close the Daily News. However, in May, before the sale was finalized, it was announced that the Inquirer and Daily News would be re-sold to Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C., a local group led by advertising executive Brian Tierney and co-founder of the Toll Brothers homebuilding firm, Bruce Toll. The deal became official on June 29, 2006. The group intends to strengthen the online presence of both papers, and begin an extensive ad campaign.[3]
In early 2009 debts from buying the newspapers forced Philadelphia Media Holdings Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[4] Falling circulation and ad revenue caused Philadelphia Media Holdings to make the Daily News into an edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Without making any other changes to the Daily News, making it part of The Inquirer would combine the circulation numbers of both papers by the Audit Bureau of Circulation. The idea is to make the newspapers more attractive to advertisers.[5]
References
- ^ Gelles, Jeff (May 24 2007). "Frisby now Daily News publisher" ([dead link] – Scholar search). The Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20070524_Frisby_now_Daily_News_publisher.html.
- ^ "Amid U.S. decline, Inquirer, Daily News circulation falls". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 28, 2008. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20081028_Amid_U_S__decline__Inquirer__Daily_News_circulation_falls.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-28.
- ^ Brubaker, Harold; Joseph N. DiStefano (May 23 2006). "Local group buys Inquirer, Daily News, Philly.com" ([dead link] – Scholar search). The Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/14649158.htm.
- ^ Pérez-Peña, Richard (February 22, 2009). "Philadelphia Newspapers Seeking Bankruptcy". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/business/media/23philly.html?ref=media. Retrieved on 2009-2-24.
- ^ Davies, Dave (March 2 2009). "Daily News to be labeled edition of Inquirer; no change to content, staff". Philly.com. http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/Daily_News_to_be_labeled_edition_of_Inquirer_no_change_to_content_staff_.html.
External links
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